Last puller



Aug. 5, 1952 R. w. MALLERY LAs'r PULLER Filedpril 9. 1951 INVENTOR. Ross WMALLERY This inventiorl'lrelats't'last pullers for removing shoes from shoe lasts and more particularly to an improvement therein that will more positively grip the counter portion of a shoe or the strap of a strap heel 'shoe and will minimize and reduce the incidence of damage to shoes while they are being removed from the lasts.

An object of this invention is to provide a last puller that will engage the shoe counter portion,` or the heel strap, in the case of open counter shoes, at the sides as well as at the rear of the last.

A further object of this invention is to provide a last puller having a horn that engages the shoe at the rear of the last and fingers at the sides of the horn that yieldingly engage the sides of the .counter portion or heel of the last, so that the horn and fingers yieldingly engage and follow the contour of the sides and rear of the heel of the last during the operation of pulling a last from a shoe.

The above and other objects and features of the invention will in part be apparent and will in part be obvious from the following detailed description, and the drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view, partly broken away and in section, showing a last puller constructed in accordance with an embodiment of this invention:

Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the last engaging part of the last puller; and

Fig. 3 is a view in horizontal section through the last at an elevation slightly above the counter or strap engaging surfaces of the last puller horn and fingers.

In the following detailed description, and the drawing. like reference characters indicatejli-ke parts. I

In Fig. 1, a machine for pulling lasts is shown which includes a pedestal IO having a last pin holder |2 at the top thereof on which a last |3 is mounted. A shoe 14 is shown mounted in place on the last, and therefore the major portion of the last is concealed in Fig. 1.

The shoe is removed from the last by a pcdal operated shoe lifting horn 16. The horn is supported at its lower end on a pin l1 carried by a rocker lever |8. The rocker lever is supported by a shaft |9 carried by the pedestal. A tension spring 2| is secured to the lever |8 and to the horn, the spring urging the horn against the rear of the counter portion of the last.

The shoe lifting horn is raised through its shoe lifting stroke by a pedal 22 and a rod 23 connecting the pedal and rocker lever, as shown. The

hor ist to origin of lits hfting 'stroke by a tension spring 24.l

last, and fingers or bifurcations 21 and 28pat the sides of the horn. The hook has a rearwardly concave recess 29 into which the rear of the last is received. y'I'hese fingers are pivotally supported at the rear of the hook on pins 30 and 3| and are yieldingly urged towards each other by a spring 32. The fingers are designed to engage the shoe last immediately below the sides of the shoe counter portion or the strap of the shoe in the case of la strap heel shoe, and the hook engages the last immediately below the shoe counter portion or strap at the rear of the last. Thus the shoe counter portion or strap is engaged at three locations, on both sides and at the rear i when the lifting horn moves upwardly through its shoe lifting stroke.

In order that the spacing between the flngers 21 and 28 at closed position may be adjusted, set screws 33 and 34' may be provided. The inner ends of these screws engage the sides of the hook 26 of the shoe lifter,'so that by turning them in or out the normal spacing of the fingers may be adjusted to suit Operating requirements' When a shoe is to be lifted off the last, the lifting horn will be in the position shown in Fig. l. When pedal 22 is depressed, the lifting horn is moved vertically. The lifting horn also turns 'on pivot pin |1 as the hook portion follows the contour of the rear of the counter of the last, and fingers 21 and 28 move towards or away from each other as they follow the contour at the sides of the last. In thislift stroke, the counter portion or strap of the shoe rests on the inner edges of fingers 21 and 28 and the inner edge of the concavity 29 in the horn.` As there is thus provided a relatively large area of contact with the shoe, the shoe lifter will not in the usual case, slip off the shoe and damage the same. Damage resulting from slippage in the use of prior art horns is well known to those skilled in this art, and the construction of the present last puller reduces the likelihood of such damage because the fingers and. horn engage the shoe counter portion or strap not only at the rear end thereof but also on the sides. The horn and fingers closely'follow the contours of the last and firmly engage the counter portion of the shoe throughout the stroke of the last puller so that danger of damage to shoes is minimized.

The last pulling .device illustrated in the drawing and described above is subject to structural modification without departing from the spirit toward each other and that said stop is must-- and scope of the appended claims. able: w V

Having described my invention, ,what I claim 3. A' device for removing a shoe from a shoe as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: last whichtcomprises means for holding theolast, 1. Abifurcated last puller. Comprising a verti- 5 a horn engageable with theedge of the rear end cally reciprocable shoe engaging horn and yieldof the counter portion of the shoe, and recipthe shoe engging `Jvpart of the hor'n, for fengagfingers higd 'to' oppsit'e'="idsfof the horn, said mg the SdeS Of the Counter part of the last, sid n fingers engagingedges of the sides of the counter horn being yieldingly urged in a direction to en--10-:fortion of the shoe when the horn engages the gage the end of the counter part of the -1ast,- 1 edge of the rear end thereof, and resilient means whereby when a shoe is on the last, the sides'nd' v'l'ra'xving the fingers together, whereby the fingers end of the counter portion Efffth' "sh' re'is'ipv 'nw ported on the horn and finfs't Y gers following the contour of thedeel of evfie `?iecordance with claim 3 charas the 110m is mOVed thmuult: 8.110,61;iliftft:22.: .aetsiazby'z-tthezfact that the resilient means is stroke to remove the shoe from the last. a tnsion spring eonnectin'g the fingers.

'f' f i ,Y ROSS W. MALLERY.

J "ong the last.

2. A bifurcated last guller in accordfie tri'th 4 i i claim 1 characterized ;by the fact that a stop is -irovidedto' ;limit the motfementaofissatd;=fingers 20 .i o o 

